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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24497167">La Femme Rouge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freezeurbrain/pseuds/Freezeurbrain'>Freezeurbrain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen, Heists, How Do I Tag, I wrote this because the WiFi at my house was down, No Romance, Thievery, carmen sandiego au, more characters to be added as the story continues, very Chloe-centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:22:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24497167</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freezeurbrain/pseuds/Freezeurbrain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The press calls her La Femme Rouge, or “The Red Woman”. She’s a thief who’s stolen millions’ worth of money and precious artifacts from over a dozen countries around the world. Interpol, the FBI, Scotland Yard... they’re always on her trail, but they can never catch her. She’s always one, or two, steps ahead of them. Despite her status as an internationally wanted criminal, she doesn’t hide her name. </p><p>Chloe Valentine.</p><p>Even though she’s not shy when it comes to sharing her identity, she’s never been caught. She seems to vanish from every crime scene without a trace, leaving anyone who investigates the case scratching their head and thinking one question.</p><p>“Where in the world is Chloe Valentine?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>La Femme Rouge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is based off of the 2019 reboot of Carmen Sandiego, which I absolutely love. If you can, I strongly suggest you watch the whole thing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was awfully late at night for anyone to be driving. In fact, it was so late that it probably would have been more appropriate to classify it as early morning instead. The sky- what you could see of it from between the city buildings, anyway -was dark, but faintly tinged with pink on the horizon. Most citizens of Poitiers were asleep in their beds, which meant the streets were deserted. Deserted, that was, except for a lone car driving down the street. </p><p>In the driver’s seat of this car was Inspector William Reyes, who looked around forty or fifty years old and very agitated. In the passenger’s seat, Christine Canigula was scrolling through a collection of images on a tablet as Inspector Reyes spoke. </p><p>“In the past few weeks alone, this Chloe Valentine has managed to steal from a Swiss bank, a high-end art gallery in Cairo, and a Shanghai amusement park. She’s stolen millions of euros from these three locations alone.”</p><p>“Before vanishing without a trace.” Christine nodded. “And Headquarters has yet to determine any pattern, except that our perpetrator always wears a scarlet coat and fedora, and seems to announce her crimes beforehand by making random public appearances.” </p><p>As she spoke, she swept through various images on her tablet. One was of a shopping mall, another of a park, one from a city traffic camera, and finally, one of a Parisian-style café. The only thing all four of these images had in common was the figure of a woman, in a red coat and matching red hat. </p><p>“Such as the nearby café sighting earlier today.” Inspector Reyes’ French accent was heavy as he spoke. “So, Miss Canigula, we must ask ourselves- who in the world <i>is</i> Chloe Valentine? Why would a thief draw attention to herself by leaving clues and wearing bold colors?”</p><p>“Perhaps stealing is a game to her.” Christine mused, more thinking out loud than actually giving an answer to the question.</p><p>Inspector Reyes scoffed. “Ha! Well, her <i>game</i> is over. She is in my jurisdiction now. Though I do question why.”</p><p>“Poitiers is rich with medieval history.” Christine said, “Perhaps she is targeting a priceless antique, or a historic artifact from one of its many churches, or-“</p><p>The car came to an abrupt halt as Inspector Reyes turned to look at Christine. “Miss Canigula, you are an agent of Interpol, not a museum guide. So you may stop sharing dull facts about boring things. You have been on the force less than a fortnight, have you not?”</p><p>As Inspector Reyes continued babbling on, Christine sighed and looked at her reflection in the car’s rear view mirror. To her surprise, it wasn’t just her own face she saw reflected back at her. In the very corner of the mirror, Christine could make out someone running down the street. Even more astounding, that “someone” she saw happened to be wearing a long red coat and a matching hat. “Uh...”</p><p>Inspector Reyes was oblivious to what Christine had just seen. “You have so much to learn, and since you have been assigned to my department, I, William Reyes, will be your teacher.”</p><p>“Inspector Reyes, sir-“</p><p>Christine was cut off by Inspector Reyes. “Nuh-uh. Sit back, watch, and learn how to catch a thief.”</p><p>“She’s right there!” Christine pointed to the woman, who was now standing right behind the vehicle. </p><p>As Inspector Reyes turned to look, the woman pulled out some sort of device from inside her coat, aimed it at the roof of the building they were next to, and hit a button. A wire with a hook on the end shot from the device, and before Christine or Inspector Reyes could do anything, the mystery woman was lifted off the ground and out of sight.</p><p>Inspector Reyes gasped. “<i>La Femme Rouge</i>!” </p><p>Both Christine and the inspector stepped out of the vehicle, watching as the woman in red gave them a smile and a wave before turning and running down the length of the roof. </p><p>Inspector Reyes growled and turned to Christine. “Remain here!” </p><p>“And radio for assistance?” Christine asked.</p><p>“No.” Inspector Reyes shook his head. “The crimson ghost is mine.”</p><p>Christine watched, dumbfounded, as Inspector Reyes sprinted off in pursuit of the suspect. Meanwhile, from the roof of the building she had just scaled, Chloe Valentine had her eyes set on a very different target.</p><p>“On top of the world.” She mused, staring out at the Poitiers skyline. “I can see <i>La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre</i> from here.”</p><p>There was a chime, and a voice came from the microphone in her ear; a microphone that had, rather ingeniously if Chloe did say so herself, been disguised as a simple stud earring. “Word of friendly advice? Save the sightseeing for after the job.”</p><p>Chloe chuckled. “Jared. Glad to hear you’re on board.”</p><p>Jared, Chloe’s ever-faithful assistant, cracked his knuckles. “You know I wouldn’t miss a night out with you for the world, Red. Let’s get this party started.”</p><p>Through her earpiece, Chloe could hear the clicking of computer keys, which could only mean that Jared was synchronizing her location to his computer. </p><p>“Virtual France sure looks lovely this time of year.” Jared remarked. “I’m locking onto your position... and we’re synced. If our intel is accurate, the next stop on your sightseeing tour of beautiful historic Poitiers should be... 50 yards dead ahead.” </p><p>Chloe smirked, then took off running across the rooftops. The tiles and slanting created a less-than-ideal ground for runners, but Chloe had a lot of practice. By now, she could run across a whole city district without even losing her footing. “How’s my temperature?”</p><p>“Warm, Red.”</p><p>Chloe jumped across an alleyway, sticking the landing onto the next rooftop. </p><p>“Getting warmer.”</p><p>Chloe came to a building that was higher than the one she was currently on. That might have sent lesser parkour artists packing, but Chloe was no amateur. With one jump, she launched herself into the air and grabbed onto the roof of the building with both hands. She hoisted herself up, and no sooner had she pulled herself to her feet before she heard the telltale chime in her earpiece and Jared’s voice.</p><p>“You’re red hot.”</p><p>Chloe scanned the roof, looking for any entry points such as an air vent or a roof access door. Her eyes landed on a glass skylight, through which she could see exactly the target of tonight’s heist. </p><p>She walked up to the skylight and knelt down, looking through the glass. Far below, she could see a very nicely decorated apartment, the kind loaded with antiques and baubles only acquired by those who had more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime. </p><p>
  <i>Perfect.</i>
</p><p>She felt around the floor near her until she found what she was looking for. She lifted up one of the tiles to find a control panel, with blinking red buttons and exposed wires just a asking to be cut. </p><p>But wire-cutting had never been Chloe’s strong suit. She preferred to get all her codebreaking done remotely. </p><p>From inside one of her coat’s many pockets, she pulled out an innocuous-looking tube of red matte lipstick. Rather than touch up her makeup, however, Chloe pressed a hidden button on the side of the tube. The bottom of the tube rose up slightly to reveal that it wasn’t actually lipstick at all, but rather a cleverly disguised hard drive, which Chloe plugged into the control panel. </p><p>“Analyzing frequencies.” Chloe could once again hear Jared typing rapidly away at his keyboard as the information from the control panel was sent directly to his computer. “Decrypting security codes.” There was a beep, and the red buttons in the control panel lit up green. “Alarm system disabled.”</p><p>Chloe smiled and removed the thumb drive from the panel, hit the button again to conceal the USB stick, and stuffed it back into her coat pocket.</p><p>Jared continued. “But I’m picking up another signal. It could be a trap.” </p><p>“Let’s find out.” </p><p> Chloe removed yet another device from her coat pocket, although this one wasn’t quite so innocuous-looking. Hey, not everything could have a fancy disguise on it. This device still got the job done, providing a laser that allowed Chloe to cut a window pane off the skylight. </p><p>As Chloe lowered herself down into the apartment using her grappling hook, her earpiece chimed once more. </p><p>“Watch your step, Red.”</p><p>Right before Chloe landed on the ground, she paused. As her feet hung mere centimeters above the floor tile, she pondered Jared’s words aloud to herself. </p><p>“‘Watch my step’...”</p><p>She heard the sound of machinery whirring to life and looked up to see that the decorative masks hung on the wall had lit up with red eyes. In an instant, she spun around and kicked upwards, sending a nearby antique shield flying over her head. Chloe grabbed the shield and ducked behind it, hearing the clash of something hitting against metal. When the clanging stopped, Chloe lowered the shield to inspect it. As it turned out, she had been right to worry.</p><p>The shield had been punctured by at least two dozen arrows, which had stuck themselves into the metal like porcupine quills.</p><p>“Well, <i>this</i> just became worth a whole lot less.”</p><p>Chloe looked around the room, taking in the expensive decor. This wasn’t fake expensive stuff, either- whoever owned this place was the real deal. She pressed her ear up against a wall that was plastered with a painting and a fireplace and rapped against it with her knuckles- as she’d suspected, it was hollow. “Okay, who walls up an atrium?”</p><p>“Anyone who values storage over natural light.” Jared said.</p><p>“He said, a little too knowingly.” Chloe said.</p><p>“Don’t judge. I’m happy here in my dark little cave.”</p><p>Chloe examined the wall, and her eyes landed on a candle attached to the wall. </p><p>
  <i>These people need to step up their game.</i>
</p><p>Chloe reached out and twisted the candle sideways, which caused the wall Chloe had been staring at to move to the side and reveal a steel vault door with a combination lock. “You called it, Jared.” She rummaged around in her jacket pocket. “Right tool for the job... ah, this works.”</p><p>She placed a device on the vault door and watched as it began cycling through four-digit numbers. There were 10,000 possible combinations for a 4-digit combination lock. This device could figure out the right one in a minute- maybe two, tops. Sure enough, the device lit up green. </p><p>Chloe could practically hear Jared’s smile. “Safe cracked.”</p><p>The safe door slowly opened, revealing exactly what Chloe had come here for.</p><p>A glittering blue gemstone the size of a cantaloupe, reflecting the light back at the room around it like some kind of disco ball... if a disco ball was worth millions. </p><p>“The Eye of Vishnu.” Chloe smiled. She was just about to step inside and bag the gem when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Against her better judgement, she took a second look, and she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her lips.</p><p>“What is it, Red?” Jared asked.</p><p>“I’m staring at something I thought I’d never set eyes on again.” Chloe stepped away from the door to the vault and towards a glass display case, one that contained all manner of trinkets from around the world. Stuffed tropical birds, painted vases, antique porcelain... and this.</p><p>“Whatever it is, is it more valuable than a sparkly gemstone the size of my head?” </p><p>“Define ‘valuable’.” Chloe put her gloved hand up to the glass. “They say beauty’s in the eye of the beholder.”</p><p>“Are you gonna tell me what it is, Red, or-“</p><p>Jared was cut off by the sound of someone banging on the door. “Interpol! Open up!”</p><p>“Bag the gem and get out of there already!” Jared said.</p><p>Chloe looked to the vault, then back at the display case as the banging on the door continued. </p><p>“I said open up!”</p><p>When the Interpol agent finally broke through the door, Chloe was standing outside the vault, lacing up a pouch.</p><p>The agent ran towards her, and Chloe kicked an ottoman towards him. This stopped the agent in his tracks, allowing Chloe to use said ottoman as a sort of springboard for which to vault over his head. The agent wasn’t so graceful, and he tripped over the moving ottoman and fell flat on his face.</p><p>“Stop, thief!”</p><p>Chloe turned around to face the agent. “On whose authority?”</p><p>The agent scrambled to his feet, straightened his hair, and reached into his pocket, presumably for his badge. “On the authority of... of...” </p><p>Chloe held the agent’s badge out in front of her, reading the information out loud. “Inspector William Reyes, Interpol.” She looked up at the inspector and smirked. “Good evening, Inspector.” </p><p>She tossed the badge back towards Inspector Reyes, who sprinted towards her again. Before he could reach her, however, she aimed her grappling hook up at the skylight and pulled the trigger. The cable soared upward, and Chloe was pulled out of the inspector’s reach just before he could grab her. </p><p>Chloe ran across the roof, jumping down onto the roof of a neighboring building. She heard the sound of a window opening behind her, and Inspector Reyes’ voice. “I order you to stop!”</p><p>Chloe paused, turning to look at the inspector. In between the window and the roof Chloe stood on was a gap that no human being could possibly clear. This forced the inspector to awkwardly shuffle across the windowsill to get to Chloe.</p><p>“You didn’t say for how long.” Chloe turned around and took off running again right as Inspector Reyes reached her roof.</p><p>“It was implied!” The inspector yelled out. </p><p>Chloe didn’t even have to turn around to know that the inspector was following her as she ran across various rooftops in succession. When she finally reached what was both metaphorically and physically the end of the line, she turned around to face the inspector.</p><p>“<i>Au revoir</i>.” </p><p>Without another word, she stepped off the roof of the building. As she fell, she pressed a button on her belt that caused the paraglider hidden in her coat to deploy.</p><p>
  <i>Rule number one of thievery: always have an escape route.</i>
</p><p>Christine barely had any time to gawk at what she’d just witnessed before Inspector Reyes fell from the building as well, only he didn’t exactly have a paraglider on him. Instead, he fell right onto the hood of the police car, which dented with the force of the fall. </p><p>Her eyes widened. “Did you just-“</p><p>Inspector Reyes stood up and dusted himself off, as if he’d fallen a few feet rather than a few stories. “Never mind that! Where in the world is Chloe Valentine?!”</p><p>“She has to land sometime.” Christine said. “How far could she possibly get?”</p><p>Inspector Reyes suddenly stopped, and Christine could practically see the lightbulb above his head. “She must be heading for the train station!”</p><p>The inspector ran towards and entered the driver’s seat of the car, yelling out the open window as he did. “Secure the crime scene! Deduce what was stolen!”</p><p>“But the car-“</p><p>Christine was cut off by Inspector Reyes slamming the gas pedal, sending a cloud of dust right into Christine’s face as he shot off down the streets of Poitiers. </p><p>Christine sighed. “Why do I always get stuck with the weird ones?”</p><p>***</p><p>Chloe, meanwhile, had touched down outside a train station in the French countryside. Almost seamlessly, she’d changed from her trademark red coat and hat into something a little more mainstream- a red leather jacket over a black tee-shirt and denim shorts, with her hair pulled off her face in a loose ponytail. “I’m right on time.”</p><p>“Like you ever aren’t.” Jared said, “Ticket’s purchased and uploading.”</p><p>Chloe pulled her cellphone out of her pocket, seeing a train ticket with a barcode pop up on the screen. “Good work, Jared.”</p><p>No one batted an eye as Chloe boarded the train and made her way to her seat- for all they knew, she was just another passenger. She walked along the train corridors, looking for the seat number that matched the number on her screen. She looked up to see that she hadn’t just gotten a seat- Jared had hooked her up with a first-class compartment. “First class. Nice.”</p><p>“My treat, Red. You earned it.” </p><p>Chloe walked into the compartment and shut the door behind her. As the train pulled out of the station, she set her duffle bag down on the floor and leaned back into her seat, finally calming down from the adrenaline rush of tonight’s heist.</p><p>Of course, when you were an internationally wanted thief, you really didn’t get true moments of peace. </p><p>The door to the compartment open, and Chloe opened her eyes to see who she’d be sharing the train ride with. </p><p>She wasn’t exactly expecting to be staring at the business end of a shocking rod. </p><p>That wasn’t the surprising part- Chloe found herself on the receiving end of weapons at least once a week. No, what really came as a shock (pun not intended) was seeing the <i>person</i> on the other end of the rod. </p><p>It was a young woman about Chloe’s age, with dark skin, short black hair and a self-satisfied smirk on her face. “Blast from the past, huh?” </p><p>And with that, the woman hit a button on the rod and sent a ball of green electric energy right towards Chloe.</p>
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